The University of Judaism and its Sigi Ziering Institute are hosting a conversation between Dr. Richard Mouw, President of the Fuller Theological Seminary, and Dr. Elliot Dorff, Rector of the University of Judaism. Last spring during the height of the controversy surrounding Mel Gibson’s movie, The Passion of the Christ, Rabbi Dorff was invited to speak with the students of the Seminary in dialogue with its President. This is an opportunity to reciprocate and invite Dr. Mouw to speak to the UJ’s students and friends and to have a Christian and Jew speak with each other and not speak at each other.
Dr. Richard Mouw joined the faculty of Fuller as professor of Christian philosophy in September 1985, after 17 years as a professor at Calvin College. He served for four years as provost and senior vice president, then in 1993 was inaugurated as the fourth president of the Fuller Seminary. He has published 11 books during these years and authored articles, reviews, and essays appearing in more than 30 journals. Among his books are The God Who Commands: A Study in Divine Ethics (1990), Uncommon Decency (1992), and The Smell of Sawdust (2000). His areas of expertise are social ethics and the philosophy of culture, and he is a regular columnist on "Beliefnet" Web Magazine.
Elliot Dorff, Rector and Distinguished Professor of Philosophy at the University of Judaism, was ordained a Conservative rabbi by the Jewish Theological Seminary of America in 1970. He earned his Ph.D. in philosophy from Columbia University in 1971 with a dissertation in moral theory. Rabbi Dorff teaches a course on Jewish law at UCLA School of Law as a Visiting Professor and holds three honorary doctoral degrees. In Spring, 1993, he served on the Ethics Committee of Hillary Rodham Clinton's Health Care Task Force. He serves as Co-Chair of the Priest-Rabbi Dialogue of the Los Angeles Archdiocese and the Board of Rabbis of Southern California as well as a Vice-President of the Academy for Jewish, Christian, and Muslim Studies. He has published 10 books and over 150 articles on Jewish thought, law, and ethics.
The Sigi Ziering Insitute Exploring the Ethical and Religious Implications of the Holocaust (SZI) is a division of the Center for Jewish Ethics at the UJ. As a central event of the 20th century, the Holocaust impacted our understanding of divinity, humanity and mankind’s capacity to do evil. To benefit the Jewish future and humankind, collectively, the SZI continues to discuss and learn from the ethical dimensions of the Holocaust. Upcoming events sponsored by the SZI include “The NY Times and the Holocaust” on April 4 and the film workshop, “About Face,” on May 10.
“Evangelical Christians and Jews” will be held at 7:30 p.m., Tue., March 22 at the University of Judaism’s Gindi Auditorium. The event is free and space is limited. The UJ is located at 15600 Mulholland Drive, Bel Air in the Sepulveda Pass, just east of the Mulholland Drive exit of the 405 Freeway. To RSVP, call (310) 440-1534. To learn more about the event or the UJ, log onto www.uj.edu.
